Wednesday, January 11, 2017

I spoke yesterday on the phone with Damario Solomon-Simmons, a powerhouse attorney in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We discussed a series of very disturbing incidents that have occurred on Facebook since the start of the year. From what I am observing, nearly every African American friend I have has been recently suspended from the network for one reason or another. One person was suspended for reading a harmless poem, another for sharing an article with the title, "Tyler Perry tells Spike Lee to shut the hell up." A third friend was suspended because the page she was an editor on had posted an article that quoted a racist in the title of the story.

What's most surprising is that many of these articles (like the one above) were posted years ago, meaning that the network is now going through years of content and banning people for things they said in 2013 or even earlier than that. Given the way my black friends have been affected (I can count about 10 - 15 right off hand who've been suspended this week alone), it appears that there is some systematic effort by Facebook to exterminate the African American presence from its platform.

In some ways, the behavior of the social media network reminds me of the way the federal government imposed organized crime laws, incarcerating nearly every person who had any association with the person who committed the original offense. Even those who were editors on my Facebook page were being suspended despite the fact that they hadn't posted on facebook for weeks or even months. What's worse is that there is almost no due process, with us being unable to even get a reply when we email Facebook's administrators to explain that we aren't spewing hate speech toward anyone.

As a person who's used Facebook for quite a while now, I was deeply disturbed. But as a believer in black self-reliance, I have begun making some adjustments. First, I am now supporting Blaqspot.com, a black-owned social media network that doesn't have the racism that we're seeing with Facebook. Secondly, we are now creating Financial Juneteenth, an all black social media platform that brings together those who are interested in the Black Economic Revolution we began several years ago.

Finally, Attorney Simmons and I have begun investigating whether there are grounds for a class action racial discrimination lawsuit against Facebook, given that the network's ban of specific words appears to have had a very harmful effect on black people. There are still millions of black people on Facebook, and they deserve the right to speak online without being under constant attack from this form of disturbing digital persecution. A person shouldn't be banned for quoting Harriet Tubman.

One of the largest book publishers in the country, Simon & Schuster, just rewarded a white supremacist spokesperson with a massive book deal.
Milo Yiannopoulos - a Breitbart publisher and spokesperson for white supremacy - has made a name for himself as a mouthpiece for hate speech. Yiannopoulos was banned from Twitter last year after leading a campaign of racial, anti-Black and sexual harassment against actress Leslie Jones. The harassment driven by Yiannopoulos was so severe that Jones had to temporarily quit Twitter. Now he’s getting $250,000 from Simon & Schuster to promote his hateful ideas.
The Simon & Schuster book deal will give Yiannopoulos exactly what Twitter took away from him: a mainstream platform, one beyond the openly white supremacist Breitbart, that he can use to spread his views of hate for Black people, women, Muslims, and transgender people.Demand Simon & Schuster cancel the white supremacist book deal!Simon & Schuster is enabling white supremacists and is openly peddling hate speech for profit. Simon & Schuster is banking on white supremacists all over the country buying this book. Not surprisingly, white supremacists have already pushed the book’s pre-sales to No. 1 on Amazon, giving it a sleek “bestseller” label that further legitimizes Yiannopoulos’ hate speech.1This book deal is so disturbing that even some segments of Simon & Schuster are speaking out against the book deal.2The United Kingdom branch of Simon & Schuster has already publicly refused to sell this hateful book.
Simon & Schuster claims that they “do not and never have condoned discrimination or hate speech in any form,” but handing a purveyor of hate speech and white supremacy a $250,000 megaphone is a clear statement that this publisher is willing to enable and profit from calls to harm people of color.Demand Simon & Schuster cancel the white supremacist book deal!This is not normal. White supremacists should not be getting six-figure deals to promote their hate under the guise of mainstream platforms. Black communities know all too well how perpetuating stereotypes and hateful rhetoric can empower a racist and violent agenda.In the week following the election, more than 900 incidents of harassment and hate crimes targeting Blacks folks, people of color, Muslims, immigrants, the L.G.B.T. community, and women have been reported.3 The violence of these emboldened cowards will only continue if companies like Simon & Schuster continue to normalize white supremacy.
We will not stand by and let companies profit from white supremacy. Join us in demanding Simon & Schuster cancel the white supremacist book deal!

President Obama has only 3 weeks left to grant clemency to Oscar Lopez Rivera

All Out for Oscar!

Friday, January 6th 4:30- 6 PM

Gather at Lakeview Library (near Lake Merritt)

550 El Embarcadero, Oakland

March to corner of Grand (Opposite Grand Lake Theater) at 5:00 PM

Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera has been imprisoned for almost 36 years for the charge of seditious conspiracy. The only legal remedy to release him is a presidential commutation.

All sectors of Puerto Rican society, Nobel laureates, Latin American leaders, Former President Carter and Senator Bernie Sanders have all called for his release.

Let’s celebrate Oscar’s 74th birthday on January 6 by joining the hundred thousand who petitioned the White House and demand:
FREE OSCAR LOPEZ RIVERA NOW!
You can also CONTACT The White House on JAN 6 and 13
For more information, go to: http://boricuahumanrights.org/